Almost 2 billion servings of fruit, yogurt at McDonald's

McDonald's began automatically including fruit or low-fat yogurt in every Happy Meal in 2011 and on Tuesday 19 January, the company announced that they have almost made 2 billion sales of the fruit and yogurt sides.

Jessica Foust, McDonald’s chef and director for culinary innovation, said

“It’s really impactful,” Foust told USA TODAY. “If you were to look at this and spread it across the population that would mean that we delivered 27 fruit and low fat yogurt servings to every single kid in America, which is tremendous.”

McDonald’s began offering the choice between fruit (sliced apples or Cuties clementines when in season) or Go-Gurt with Happy Meals after years of pressure from consumer groups and food activists to increase the availability of fruits and vegetable options on their menu.

In 2013, McDonald’s also made a formal commitment with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation at the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative to take a series of steps to improve access of fruits and vegetables at its restaurants.

The agreement with the Alliance has led to most restaurants offering side salads as an alternative to fries for customers ordering extra value meals.

Howell Wechsler, CEO of the Alliance, said reaching the 2 billion sales of fruit and yogurt to children is a significant milestone for the fast-food chain. About 87% of children chose fruit, while 13% chose Go-Gurt, according to McDonald’s data.

Yet McDonald's isn't converting to healthy alternatives all together; the company also announced on Tuesday 19 January that it would begin selling a new item called McChoco Potato in Japan next week. 

The idea hasn't been met with enthusiasm in the States, but company officials say there are no plans currently to sell chocolate covered fries beyond Japan.